Only shared fictions let strangers cooperate at scale

In the sweltering plains of southern Mesopotamia, more than 70,000 years ago, small clans first found themselves bumping into neighbours as they chased herds of antelope. Imagine Fatima and Joram, two strangers from rival bands, squinting at a fresh camel track. Alone, each would have shrunk back in fear. But they’d both sworn their clans followed the Spirit of the Desert Camel—an unlikely myth that painted camels as sacred guides. When Fatima greeted Joram with the clan emblem swapped on her wristband, he nodded, recognizing a shared story. Instantly they cooperated to corner the wounded beast, saving hours of lunging spears and near misses. It was the camel myth, not sharper spearheads or bigger muscles, that built that bridge across fear.

Back at camp, Fatima retold the tale of how two camel spirits united the clans. Every morning for a century, clans repeated that myth by leaving tiny camel carvings at the water hole. They rebuilt old alliances, mend fences with neighbouring clans, and coordinated masive hunts. Without a shared fiction, a fearful truce would have shattered—but the camel myth became a contract written in the minds of thousands.

Modern projects are no different. Imagine your cross–department initiative as a herding expedition, with mutant goose emojis as your shared spirit animals. The science is clear: shared myths light up our brain’s cooperation circuits, aligning hundreds—even thousands—of individual goals. So when you’re building that team, think like a Mesopotamian: don’t just hire coders, bless them with a common totem and a story that reminds each of them, daily, why they’re on the same side.

Imagine gathering around your digital waterhole—your chat channel—and unveiling the story of your group’s “spirit totem.” Remind everyone why that patch on your mug means more than just vinyl—explain it unlocked a milestone, sealed a promise, or simply sparked laughter during crunch time. Rally them by saying, “Let’s keep sowing these moments together,” and toss out your ritual call, whether it’s three emojis or a crackling startup tune. Soon you’ll see even the quietest coder pick up that totem, and your team energy will hum with a shared spark that’s way stronger than any lone algorithm.